THE MERCHANT OF VENICE Submission - Theatre For A New Audience Auditions

THE MERCHANT OF VENICE - EQUITY VIDEO SUBMISSIONS

Theatre For A New Audience

CONTRACT

LORT Non-Rep $926 weekly minimum (LORT C)

SEEKING

Equity actors for roles in THE MERCHANT OF VENICE (see breakdown).

No roles will be understudied.

There are currently no SM positions available.

THE MERCHANT OF VENICE is a co-production with the Shakespeare Theatre of DC. Rehearsals/Performances will begin at TFANA and then move to DC.

INSTRUCTIONS

Actors should prepare a classical monologue of their choosing. Landscape view. Please include full body slate. Submit to https://tinyurl.com/MerchantTfana (Make sure video is not set to private.) Submission deadline is 10:00 am EST on November 24.

Deadline: Wed, Nov 24, 2021

PERSONNEL

Casting: Jack Doulin

Mr. Doulin and associates to be determined are expected to view auditions.

OTHER DATES

Dates in NYC:
First Rehearsal: Monday January 3, 2022
Tech: Tuesday February 1, 2022
First Preview: Saturday February 5, 2022
Opening: Saturday February 12, 2022
NYC Closing: Sunday March 6, 2022

Dates In D.C.:
Tech: Friday March 18, 2022
First Preview: Tuesday March 22, 2022
Opening: Friday March 25, 2022
D.C. Closing: Wednesday April 20, 2022
Possible extension until Sunday April 24, 2022

OTHER

Equity’s contracts prohibit discrimination. Equity is committed to diversity and encourages all its employers to engage in a policy of equal employment opportunity designed to promote a positive model of inclusion. As such, Equity encourages performers of all ethnicities, gender identities, and ages, as well as performers with disabilities, to submit.

BREAKDOWN

Theatre for a New Audience Covid-19 Policy: This offer is contingent on the actor being fully vaccinated against COVID-19. By fully vaccinated TFANA means that the actor has had their second dose of the Moderna/Pfizer vaccine or the single dose of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine at least 14 days before the first day of rehearsal. Proof of vaccination is required at the time of offer acceptance. TFANA reserves the right to alter this requirement to include any booster or additional doses of the vaccine as recommended or mandated by New York City public health officials and/or the Center for Disease Control. TFANA will follow all local, state, and federal guidelines as established by those authorities and the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that is currently in place between LORT and Actors' Equity Association on COVID safety and transmission mitigation. The company of MERCHANT OF VENICE will be a fully vaccinated company as defined by the MOU.

Seeking a diverse cast. Actors with physical disabilities encouraged to submit.

We invite transgender, nonbinary, and gender nonconforming individuals to submit for any character they would feel comfortable playing, regardless of the stated gender of the character.

John Douglas Thompson is playing the role of Shylock.

ANTONIO + AS CAST: 40’s-50’s. (He/Him) A Christian. An influential merchant of Venice. The establishment. Can be incredibly generous to his friends. Also, can be vicious, violent, and bigoted. Spits on and kicks Shylock in the street. In love with Bassanio. Profoundly lonely.

BASSANIO + AS CAST: 20’s-40’s. (He/Him) A Venetian and a Christian. A charming social climber and gold digger bankrolled by Antonio. Bassanio goes deep into debt to cultivate the appearance of wealth, hoping to gain large returns through marriage.

GRATIANO + AS CAST: 20’s-40’s. (He/Him) A Venetian and a Christian. Plays the fool. Described as wild, rude, bold of voice. Has a skipping spirit. Irreverent. An anti-Semite. Openly taunts Shylock.

JESSICA + AS CAST: 20’s. (She/Her) Shylock’s daughter, elopes with Lorenzo. Smart, shy and rebellious. She begins the play almost wanting to be someone other than herself. Holds such complicated feelings towards her father, her religion, her society, her race, herself and eventually towards her husband. By the end of the play, she begins to view her marriage as a mistake.

LANCELOT GOBBO + AS CAST: 20’s-40’s. (Any gender) A huge feeder, snail-slow, sleeps by day more than the wild cat. Sharp-witted. Requires comedic chops.

LORENZO + AS CAST: 20’s-30’s. (He/Him) A young Venetian and a Christian. Elopes with Jessica. His love for her is fundamentally contingent upon her denial of self -– denial of her religion, her race, her family, her heritage. Thinks he is ‘saving’ her by helping her convert to Christianity.

NERISSA + AS CAST: 20’s-40’s. (She/Her) Employed by Portia. Funny, smart, level-headed. She’s game for all of Portia’s escapades.

PORTIA + AS CAST: 20’s-30’s. (She/Her) A young Christian heiress. Privileged. Charming. Charismatic. Possess a dazzling mind. Can talk her way out of almost any situation. A leading lady. She’s also a racist, an anti-Semite and a hypocrite.

PRINCE OF ARAGON + AS CAST: 10+. (He/Him) A suitor to Portia from Spain. In some way he should be an unappealing partner to Portia. Perhaps he is 40 years her senior? Or a child? Perhaps he’s not attracted to women? Or he flirts with other women in front Portia? Or he’s a blinking idiot? There are many possibilities. The incongruity can be played for humor, but the larger significance is Portia’s lack of choice – she very well may have to marry this man against her will. A prisoner of the patriarchy.

TUBAL / PRINCE OF MOROCCO + AS CAST: (TUBAL): 30’s-60’s. (He/Him) A wealthy Jewish moneylender. A friend and colleague of Shylock. (PRINCE OF MOROCCO): 30’s-50’s. MENA (He/Him) A suitor to Portia. Smart, unsentimental, bold. A warrior and a bit of a Casanova.

BALTHAZAR + AS CAST (Any gender) On staff at Portia’s estate. Deals with extremely wealthy and privileged people. Discreet, politic, and opinionated.

SALERIO + AS CAST: 30’s-70’s. (He/Him) A well-connected Christian gentleman in Venice. A hate-filled kiss-ass.

SOLANIO / DUKE + AS CAST: 20’s-60’s. (SOLANIO) (He/Him): A well-connected Christian gentleman of Venice. Another hate-filled kiss ass. DUKE (He/Him): 40’s-70’s. The biased seat of power in Venice. A bigoted Christian.

Equity’s contracts prohibit discrimination. Equity is committed to diversity and encourages all its employers to engage in a policy of equal employment opportunity designed to promote a positive model of inclusion. As such, Equity encourages performers of all ethnicities, gender identities, and ages, as well as performers with disabilities, to submit.